


espresso con panna

by ZinniaRae



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista! Jason, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Tim is still Red Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 05:03:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10404534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZinniaRae/pseuds/ZinniaRae
Summary: Jason's nights are mundane and lonely, working late hours at the coffee shop...until Red Robin stops in one night. After that, things begin to change.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The idea is inspired by the tumblr post that certain businesses in Gotham are open late for the batfam, so credit to the person who came up with that.
> 
> Song: Coffee Talk - Broadside

Working late nights in a Gotham coffee shop wasn’t ideal for most people. For Jason Todd, it meant a warm place to stay at night, access to food and just some kind of calm. Being a barista didn't pay a lot, enough for cheap food, enough for rent in some rundown Gotham apartment, but it was _enough_. The soundtrack they were sent to play was relaxing, even if it repeated itself ten times a night. Jason never minded.

The Hideout was one of the many stores in Gotham open late, mostly for the city’s vigilantes. It was a way to give back to the people who kept their city safe. The little bat symbol sticker signified that. Most nights though, Jason was alone. When the store opened at five, businessmen and women started to trickle in. But from ten to five, Jason was alone -- and he liked it like that.

Most of the time.

It was a little past two in the morning and Jason was passing the time by cleaning the espresso machine. Not that it _needed_ it, but he had energy. He needed something to make the hours go by quicker. The door chimed open, that annoying little bell signaling that somebody was there.

Red Robin looked _dead_. Not in the physical sense but even behind the domino mask, he looked tired. Jason cocked an eyebrow, wiping his hands off on the black apron tied around his waist. “Um, what can I get for you?” 

“Double espresso con panna, please.” Even his _voice_ sounded tired.

Jason winced, gave his most sympathetic smile. “So, I’ll be honest here, none of you ever pop in so I wasn’t expecting this and the machine is down for cleaning. It’ll be about ten minutes if you want to wait?” He kind of froze, expecting an annoyed remark or _something_. It was the usual reaction he got from other patrons when he informed them the machine was down.

“Oh.” Red Robin blinked before shaking his head. “No big deal. Fix me up six cups of coffee and we’re good to go.”

“Six?”

“Right. Should probably stick to killing myself with caffeine alone. I don’t need to get you involved...Jason.” He said after taking a glance at Jason’s name tag. “Just a large coffee then. One packet of sugar and whipped cream on top?”

“That I can do.” Jason grinned. Relief flooded through him that he wasn’t going to have to deal with a _difficult_ customer. God knew he dealt with too many of those. “I’ll have it right up.” He grabbed a large cup from the stack, going over to the coffee pot. He was quietly thankful that he had just put on a fresh pot -- mostly for himself, but still. It was luck. He filled the cup, grabbed a packet of sugar and dumped it in and did a perfect little whipped cream swirl on top before putting the lid on and sliding a coffee sleeve over the paper cup. “There you go.” He said, handing it back to the vigilante.

“I don’t actually have any money on me.” Color rose to the hero’s cheeks, almost the same shade of red as his costume. “Normally I don’t carry cash on me at night and…”

Jason held his hand up. “Don’t. It’s free for you guys. You do enough around here.” He shrugged.  
  
Getting a smile in return, Red Robin nodded. “Right then. Thanks Jason, have a nice night.”

“You too.”

*******

 

It started to become a strange routine. Red Robin was popping up at night a little more often, always ordering a double espresso con panna. If things weren’t busy out on the Gotham streets, he’d stay until he finished his drink. At first, it began with idle chit-chat. The weather, local happenings. Eventually he started asking questions, about Jason, about The Hideout.

Jason liked to think that maybe a friendship was blossoming between them, even if he _couldn’t_ ask Red Robin anything besides ‘Is your coffee okay?’ or his personal favorite ‘So is red your favorite color?’. He didn’t hold back, mentioning that it blew not really being able to get to know the person opposite him. Red Robin would just chuckle, give him a little smile before going back to picking Jason’s brain. Asking about his favorite authors, his favorite books, and how in the hell did he keep his sanity with the same songs on loop constantly.

All Jason knew was it was welcome. It was a break from the lonely loop that his nights seemed to be. He looked forward to work, looked forward to 2 AM when that annoying little bell would chime and Red Robin would step inside as casual as possible. Just _seeing_ the hero began to make his heart race and Jason couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was going on with him?

Whatever the case, Jason just knew he _really_ like this new routine.

*******

 

It was a little past closing and Jason was breaking down the coffee urn, dumping the coffee inside of it into the sink and filling the metal container with hot water to let it soak overnight. The door chime rang through the building and Jason turned to the front door. A part of him was expecting Red Robin and maybe he was a little let down when the vigilante didn’t step through the front door. Instead, it was a face he...actually recognized. All of Gotham would recognize the face of Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne's adopted son. Running a hand through his hair, Jason put on his best customer service smile. “Um hi, how can I help you?”

He got a handsome smile in return, one that felt extremely familiar and almost made his heart flutter. _Almost_. “Hi. How are you? Anyway, can I get a double espresso con panna? If your machine isn’t dirty, that is.” That smile faded into a smirk.

Jason’s concrete eyes widened. Tim Drake was Red Robin? He blinked once, twice. No. Couldn’t be. Realizing he had been silent for _far_ too long, he opened his mouth and ended up sounding much more confident and sure than he really was. “You’re in luck, I just finished cleaning it.”

“I’d hate to make you use it if you _just_ cleaned it.”

“No. No. It’s fine.” Jason said quickly, even smiling a bit. “So double espresso con panna, right?”

“That would be correct.”

Jason grabbed a small cup from the stack and went to work making the drink. He had the machine pour out two espresso shots and then topped it with whipped cream before passing it over to Tim. “There ya go.”  He caught him reaching for his wallet and shook his head. “Don’t. It’s on the house.”

Tim’s nose crinkled before giving a little nod. “Okay then. Are you working? I mean, are you on the clock?”

“Technically, yeah. But we’re also technically closed except for the whole late night hero rule -- but I think you know that already.” Jason added with a little smirk. Either he was right or he was just going to look like an idiot.

“I may.” Tim smirked back. “In that case, fix yourself a drink and sit down with me.”

Jason blinked over that a few times, debating whether he _should_ or not. He was on the clock, but it was only vigilante hours and he was almost certain a vigilante was standing across the counter from him. He swallowed. “Yeah, alright.” He grabbed a cup from the stack, filled it with hot water from the coffeemaker before plucking a jasmine green tea bag from the shelf, plopping it into the cup, and clicking the lid in place.

He untied the black apron from around his waist, slipped it over his neck and carefully laid it over the sink. Grabbing a sleeve for his cup, he slipped it around it before walking out from behind the counter and sitting across from Tim at the table he had chosen. “So, um,” He said, feeling just a tad bit awkward as he looked down at his cup.

“You’re nervous.” Tim said, bringing his cup to his lips. He took a sip, smiling over the brim.

Those crystal blue eyes were looking at him and Jason felt like they were looking inside of him, looking at his fluttering heart, his racing mind. He swallowed, his eyes moving to focus on his tea, waiting for it to cool and using it as a means of distraction. “You’re, well, you.” He admitted quietly.

A snort from Tim. “You mean I’m Tim Drake or I’m Red Robin?”

He said it so openly, like it wasn’t even a secret and Jason wondered if he was messing with him...or maybe he just trusted him. Shrugging, his eyes left the plastic white lid to meet Tim’s. “Both?” He offered up as an answer.

“Both sounds like a good enough answer,” Tim chuckled. “You know, I wasn’t even sure you’d be here tonight. I was hoping you would though. I wanted to see you again, out of costume.”

The way that statement made Jason’s heart flutter felt absolutely _ridiculous_ . This was technically his first meeting with the man sitting across from him, out of mask. Yet he had started to look forward to Red Robin popping in at night. It was a cure for his loneliness. It was a cure to a mundane life that he had been happy with for the longest. He had somewhere warm to be at night, money for food, to cover rent _now_ . He was developing a life for himself and he was happy with it. Until he _wasn’t_ , until he felt like something was missing.

He must have been quiet for too long because Tim was looking at him, the expression on his face reading like he was worried he had messed something up. Right, he should probably fix that as quickly as possible. “I’m glad,” Was Jason’s quiet response. “Because I mean, I like seeing you.” He could feel his cheeks heating up as he admitted it, feel tanned skin turn red. “I’m so used to being alone and I mean, I’m not lonely when you’re around.”

That made Tim smile, he downed the rest of his drink before replying, “Maybe I should pop in more often. In _and_ out of costume then.”

Deciding his tea was finally cool enough to drink from, Jason brought it to his lips and took a sip. “I’d like that, a lot.”

“Me too.”

“Should you be going? I mean - “

“I have the night off.” Tim explained quickly. “Which obviously you do not so I should probably let you be, right? I don’t want to distract you or anything.”

“You can stay.” Jason’s cheeks were _still_ warm, he was sure they were still _red_. That alone was enough to make his embarrassment multiply. “If you want to. I can’t promise excitement. I mean, most nights aren’t exciting.”

“Unless I stop in?” Tim offered, a glimmer in those crystal eyes and a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Exactly.” Jason said.

*******

 

So Tim stayed all night. Spent the whole night talking while Jason carried out mundane cleaning tasks like he usually did on the nights he worked. Except it didn’t feel so mundane and boring, it felt _special_. Jason, while curious, didn’t press his luck, didn’t ask too many questions about what Tim did at night. The last thing he wanted was to scare him away, send his newfound joy to a screeching halt. He was leaning against the counter when his eyes turned up to the clock, it was a little before opening. Soon enough, people would begin trickling through the door. And they’d be wondering why the hell Tim had been at the coffee shop seemingly all night.

Jason didn’t even have to speak, Tim seemed to be able to read his mind. He stood up from the table closest to the counter, pushed his chair in and chucked the umpteenth cup of coffee he’d asked for in the trash. “I should get going.” He said, there was a reluctance in his voice, like he didn’t want to leave and Jason didn’t _want_ him to.

He crossed over to the counter, gave Jason that charming smile. “I’ll see you later though, alright? Don’t think I’m just going to disappear.”

“Really didn’t want you to.”

They stared at each other from across the counter for a minute before Tim reached out, got his hand on Jason’s cheek. It was the first time that Jason realized that Tim was shorter than him, not that that mattered at the moment because his warm hand was on Jason’s cheek and he instinctively nuzzled into the warmth. He could see Tim give him a little smile, obviously happy with that response.

He leaned over, half his body coming across the counter before his lips met Jason’s. Concrete eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before Jason was kissing him back, tasting the coffee and the faint hint of sugar on his lips. It was a kiss that sent electric shocks through his body, made him feel like he was _soaring_.

All too soon Tim pulled away, that mischievous smirk Jason was coming to adore on his lips. “See ya Jason,”

Jason was still a little breathless as he watched Tim leave, only managing to mutter. “See ya Tim,” after he had walked through the front door.


End file.
